Xing Lei left a tired Osilliaice curled up in his bed, walking naked across the room to open a pair of double doors that lead to a private balcony. Breathing deeply he focused his mind dispelling the pain and confusion that threatened to rob him of his new found stability. Focusing on a simple movement, an average fist strike he refined his thoughts away from what he saw, what he should be seeing, and what wanted to be seen.
The world narrowed on him. There was only a man throwing a simple punch, yet this simple punch which appeared to move slowly and unhurried twisted the air. Ripples in reality spread outwards from the space he punched. His old life, his new life, this life, that life, another life. Cause and effect, memory versus reality. Behind him he heard a shout, Alustriea gripped the doorframe, a pleading gaze as she urged him away from the center of the distortion. Beyond her he saw Little MingMing fall upon Osilliaice, a dagger opening the inhuman womans throat to paint his bed in a sea of red.
His gaze looked beyond all three, Quintella stood in the corner of the room those milky white eyes watching him. With a casual wave of her hand the mansion disintegrated. Little MingMing and Alustriea screamed as they were torn apart. Existence halted except for the strange woman of a sect without techniques and a naked man punching air. The woman stepped closer running slender fingers along his muscled arm, feeling some unchecked power rippling just beneath his flesh. "What is this?"
Xing Lei chuckled and struck again, his fist connecting with a solid nothing, more ripples flowing out from the cracked space. A kobold in the tentacles of the illithid, a naked man under the touch of a strange woman, a cultivator surrounded by his friends and family. Xing Lei laughed tossing his head back as he whirled and struck Quintella, the woman shattering like a mirror, shards flying into the darkness before reforming into an ugly octopus headed being. Those milky eyes staring hard at the man-kobold.
•● You are indeed more than food. What are you? ●•
Xing Lei straightened, a simple robe draping his naked human body as he regarded the source of the voice. Ignoring the question he summoned a table and pair of chairs, a kettle with a fragrant tea manifested as he sat and poured the creature a cup before pouring himself one. The illithid stared down as he casually sipped the tea, the fragrance and taste making his eyes close. "Sit, drink."
•● What are you? ●•
The illithids voice slammed against him and he sipped his tea, focusing on the calming nature. When he had lived as a cultivator he loved this type as it helped refine the mind. Even now drinking the memory of the tea helped isolate truth from reality. Looking at the ugly creature he sighed and pushed off the chair. "You wish to know what I am monster?"
The illithid glared at him, he could feel a pressure on his mind. The familiar pain and nosebleed returned. It was this thing trying to battering ram it's way into the secrets within his mind that was causing the result. Sighing, Xing Lei turned and knelt on nothing, his head lifted to the sky as he calmed his breathing. "If you want to know what I am, THIS memory is the one you want."
Gone was the nothingness, once again Xing Lei knelt atop a hill. Unlike the memory he now had the illithid beside him. Around them in the distant surroundings stood his friends and family. He could see his wives, their sons. His half brothers and sisters. Their folks, their sects. As if time was stopped Xing Lei once again got to see them in crystal clarity. The illithid hissed and glanced around, Xing Lei smiled, "If for nothing else, I should thank you for this. I have missed seeing them, as much as I have a new family..."
Xing Lei turned, amongst the family of old was his new mates. The lizardess Osilliaice, the elf Alustriea, his new mother Destorianaxe in her giant black dragon form. His son, Xing Kah, his mother Kesellex, the Leaf Dancer... These new faces joined the old staring up the hill at Xing Lei who was no longer man but kobold.
Turning his yellow eyes to the heavens he reached out as if he could grab the sky itself, "This is what I am. BRING FORTH THE TRIBULATION, HEAVENS!"
As if the memory had been waiting for this cue, time strode forward. The skies darkened, thunder clouds millions of miles wide blotted out the sun. Thunder roared, distorting space. The peak of that thunder was the call of gods, the cries of dragons, the songs of the Phoenix. This was not mortal phenomena, this was the very existence of reality pissed off at the audacity of one being standing against creation.
Xing Lei smiled in his own way at Lord Quisothel before paying the illithid no more mind. This was his defining moment, this was who he was at his core. Power rippled through his body as his other hand stretched forth to grab the very heavens themselves. Here he recalled the power of his old body, the sheer magnitude that could destroy space let alone worlds. His eyes narrowed on the coiling lightning that gathered in those clouds, he ignored the worries of those that worried for him, this was what he strived for.
Smiling he started to laugh, "I am the apex..." A simple sentence, one that defied the heavens. The lightning erupted from above and struck down, normally it came in waves, nine strikes of ever increasing difficulty but this was the apex tribulation, in the past he had overlooked that this would not be normal. Before the hill was obliterated he had been surprised the heavens had sent nine in one. This time he smiled as that bolt from the heavens struck down nuking the hill top and striking both himself and Quisothel. The illithid screamed both mentally and physically as the bolt even in Xing Lei's memory held the essence of true annihilation.
Gone was the mind scape, gone was the family and friends. There was only a steady heartbeat. One that marched on despite the heavens. Where once destruction had reigned, darkness returned. Standing in it was Xing Lei, the kobold. He stood at peace with himself. The failure of his path in the past. With the hope his new path would not end the same. Looking around he saw the illithid to one side, the mere wisps of its mental existence barely hanging on.
"Do you understand yet monster? Let me explain it again..." Quisothel almost screamed as the darkness shattered, the hill top returned. The angry heavens roiled above. If anything the dark storm clouds were blacker than before. No longer did lightning coil amongst the clouds but gathered in grand citadels. The power forming arrays of armies that marched from the angered heavens. Xing Lei laughed, a cackle that bordered on sounding insane. "Understand it fully creature!"
Those armies formed of lightning surged from the heavens as he reached out to grab the illithid's robe shoving Lord Quisothel before himself with a mad laugh, "Here understand what it means to take tribulations first hand not just the cast off of being beside the cultivator!"
The illithids watery scream did nothing to stop that power that slammed onto the renewed hill, as before the pair atop it was annihilated. The hill flattened into a crater. The darkness surged as the memory scattered but the strong heart beat remained. Xing Lei reformed himself from the scattered memory motes, from the fine dust the memory of heavens wrath had reduced his old body to. It almost seemed as if the tribulation was getting stronger as it seemed even more destructive than the first two smiting during his memory.
Glancing aside the blasted form of the illithid tried to crawl away, tried to drag its blasted astral form away from this insane beast that was torturing it's very essence. It squealed as Xing Lei's clawed foot slammed onto it's back pinning it down to the mental landscape. Leaning over the kobold licked his muzzle hungrily, "I wonder how many it will take to get fried squid hrm?"
Dragging the crippled mental form back the memory restarted, the illithid screamed as each recalling of Xing Lei's death brought new power to Heaven's wrath. Even his own spiritual body was starting to show signs of breaking down when at last Quisothel's dispersed, scattering like fine ash on an unfelt wind. Darkness swept in swallowing all...
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"Lord Quisothel! Lord Quisothel are you alright?!" Calimars concerned voice is what Xing Lei awoke to, his eyes blinking as he realized his head was wrapped in the illithids mouth tentacles. With a savage roar he tore the suckers from his scaled face, though there was no resistance in the monster.
Turning he saw the formerly floating illithid knelt behind him, its milky white eyes glazed, drool slithered out of a fang filled mouth down onto the front of his robe. Calimar was trying to rouse the illithid but staggered back seeing Xing Lei freeing himself from the creatures mouth... "What have you done?!"
Xing Lei laughed looking Calimar in the eye, grabbing those limp tentacles and pulling Quisothel's head forward to slam his knee into the things face before tossing it back. As he suspected the monster had no resistance, it made no effort to block or escape, it simply took the hit and fell limply to the floor without even a sound of pain. "It wanted to play with my mind, it paid the price."
Calimar rushed to the limp figure on the ground looking into those unseeing eyes before glaring at Xing Lei, "Kobolicus what have you done?! Lord Quisothel..."
"Peeked where mortals have no business peeking. He's not dead but his soul is scattered, destroyed by Heaven's will. If you want to become that thing so bad I could be convinced to help you, but I need that room trick thing back to the surface. Get me and mine out of the tunnels and you'll have your way into whatever hive thing this fool belonged to. Do we have a deal?"
From the side came the sound of the door opening, Pellanistra was leading her forces into the throne accompanied by Alustriea and Osilliaice. "You would do well to heed Kobolicus brother, he might have a way so you can be with your disgusting brain eaters..."
Cradling Quisothel's head the mage bit his lip in frustration, "What do I need to do Kobolicus?"
Xing Lei smirked inside, "Keep the body alive, I'll give you a technique to transfer your soul into it. If the body dies, well... then there's nothing I can do."
Pellanistra pulled a scroll tube and quill from her pouch with a smile, "And I just so happen to have a way for Kobolicus to write it down for you."
Calimar sighed laying the illithid's limp head down on the ground and stalked to the side pulling some chalk from a pouch as he began drawing a magic circle on a door. As he worked Pellanistra and his women walked over, "I trust like the nine paths this one will have some horrible curse attached as well?" Pellanistra whispered quietly.
Taking the scrolls and quill Xing Lei was busy writing before nodding slowly, he was writing swiftly but [Drakan Sect's One Mind Two Bodies] was an interesting technique. It in essence split the soul between two bodies. What made it a less than welcome trump card was having ones soul split weakened it, as well as unhinged the mind. Most who used it fell into dispute as to whom was the master and whom was the avatar eventually leading to one eliminating the other in a contest of originality. Not to mention it was rather foul using someone else's body to house a piece of your soul.
As Xing Lei wrote the technique Calimar was casting his ritual, the magic circle on the door flaring before he walked over, "Your portal is ready, my technique?"
Xing Lei slipped the scrolls into the tube and handed it to Calimar, "Enjoy it in good health." Turning to his friends he nodded, "Let's go, Pellanistra you have what you need but could you do something about..." He motioned to Alustriea who blinked and looked behind herself then realized he was talking about herself, "Uhhh...?"
Xing Lei chuckled and pinched his scaled hand lifting his flesh a bit, "Somehow I don't think that skin suit will be fashionable beyond these tunnels."
Pellanistra chuckled pulling a bottle from her pouch and tossing it to the elf, "Drink that when you get to the surface, your body will then reject the suit. No worries about returning it, it's been defiled by iblith blood, I no longer wish to have it." Turning and walking over to where her mother and sister lay she pulled out her rapier.
Xing Lei nodded ushering Alustriea and Osilliaice into the room, quickly closing the door before Pellanistra staged her coup.